Paroled murderer in Northfield registers three times over legal limit for DWI

By DAN SEUFERTUnion Leader Correspondent

NORTHFIELD – A convicted murderer on parole was charged with driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest for allegedly driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit.

Todd Johnson, 53, of 90 S. Main St., Apt. A, Franklin, wasarrested Thursday after threatening and fighting with local police as they tried to question him after finding his car parked off the side of Concord Road just after noon, according to Officer Aaron S. Chapple, the town's drug recognition expert instructor.

At 11:58 a.m., police had a report that Johnson had just triedto buy alcohol at the Big Apple store in Tilton.

Johnson was refused the sale "because the clerk felt he wasdisoriented," Johnson said. He was seen driving away from the store headed toward Northfield.

Minutes later, a Northfield officer saw Johnson's car andconfronted Johnson, who was "disoriented and appeared to be impaired," Chapple said. He was not cooperative with the officer and refused to follow the officer's requests, and then made statements about wanting to harm himself and others.

As more officers arrived at the scene, Johnson began to talkabout his ownership of guns, and his behavior became more aggressive, Chapple said.

Officers, who found evidence that Johnson was impaired, beganto arrest him for DWI, and he then began fighting with officers for a period before they were able to control him.

He was taken to Franklin Regional Hospital for evaluation andwas found to have a blood-alcohol content of between 2.4 and 3.0.

"That's one of the highest I've seen," Chapple said.

He was ordered held on $2,000 cash bail on the two charges atthe New Hampshire State Prison, where he is also awaiting a hearing on a parole violation.

"We're still investigating his claims that he owned guns," he said.

After Johnson's arrest, police learned he was on parole, havingbeen convicted in 1981 of second-degree murder as part of a plea-deal with prosecutors. He had originally been charged with the first-degree murder of an Andover homeowner who caught him committing a burglary at his home in 1980.

Chapple said Johnson had been given a 25-year prison sentencefor the crime. Police were still trying to determine when he was paroled from prison.